* v. 


ID<si>Y>ey,  "R.L, 


WORLD  \\ 

R E A P 


T H E 

hiite  to  harvest 

; OR,  IT  PERISHES. 


/ 


®be  ®Url*  $tbitc  to  fiarbtst:— ; or  it  geris^es. 


A SERMON 


PREACHED  FOR 


TIIE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH, 


IN  NEW  YORK,  MAY  2,  1858. 


BY 

REV.  ROBERT  L.  DABNEY,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY  AND  POLITY,  IN  THE  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  OF  THE 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  VIRGINIA. 


NEW  YORK : 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS, 
By  Edward  0.  Jenkins,  26  Frankfort  Street. 

1858. 


TIIE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST  REAP  ; OR  IT  PERISHES. 


A.  SERMON. 


“Beiioi-d,  I say  unto  you.  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields;  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest.-' 
— John  iv.  35. 

The  most  familiar  truths  are  the  most  influential.  This  is  a fact  which 
our  ambition  to  be  novel  often  causes  us  to  overlook.  Much  that  is 
ingenious,  and  at  the  same  time  correct,  has  been  said  upon  the  commer- 
cial, civil,  and  social  results  of  missions  and  of  Christianity.  There  is 
some  danger  of  our  prosecuting  the  evangelical  work  from  these  consid- 
erations, to  the  exclusion  of  the  more  sacred  motives  drawn  from  eternity* 
In  them  must  ever  be  the  main  spring  of  the  Church’s  zeal.  The  same 
vast,  old,  familiar  truths,  which  made  Paul,  Peter,  Jesus  Christ  mission- 
aries, that  the  whole  human  race  are  children  of  wrath,  and  in  the  high- 
way to  everlasting  ruin ; these  must  move  our  missionary  efforts  also. 
Our  faith  should  constantly  recur  to  these  great  facts,  to  receive  from 
them  fresh  impulses  of  their  might.  This  is  just  the  method  of  our 
Saviour  in  the  text,  when  he  introduces  the  enforcement  of  gospel  effort 
by  saying : “ Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields.”  And  the  preacher 
of  the  gospel  ought  to  be  far  more  ambitious  to  be  able  to  re-state  these 
trite,  but  potent  doctrines,  with  a seriousness,  fervor,  and  palpable  faith 
appropriate  to  their  awful  importance,  than  to  win  the  applause  of  his 
brethren  by  an  eloquent  or  ingenious  novelty.  There  is  the  more  reason 
that  we  should  recur  to  our  principles,  now  that  Infidelity  so  boldly 
charges,  that  the  church  is  no  longer  impelled  in  her  evangelical  toils,  by 
a vital  and  actual  faith  in  the  threatenings  of  sacred  Scripture-against  “the 
nations  that  forget  God.”  They  have  found,  alas ; but  too  much  pretext 
for  the  taunt,  in  the  biting  contrast  between  the  tremendous  urgency  of 
our  creed,  and  the  sluggishness  of  our  endeavors. 

You  recognize  the  text  as  a part  of  the  discourse  uttered  by  our  Saviour 
after  his  interview  with  the  Samaritan  woman  at  the  well.  She  had  gone 
for  a moment  to  the  town,  to  call  her  friends  to  hear  the  gracious  Teacher. 
Meantime  the  disciples  returned  with  supplies  for  our  Saviour’s  weariness 


4 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


which  had  arrested  him  first  at  that  spot.  But  now,  they  find  the  claims 
of  hunger  and  fatigue  silenced  in  him  by  his  more  consuming  zeal  for 
souls  ; his  meat,  his  solace  for  toil,  his  cordial  for  fainting  nature,  is  to 
fulfil  his  great  mission  as  Teacher  and  Redeemer  of  the  perishing.  He 
proceeds  to  assign  the  reason  for  his  self-denying  diligence  in  this  work, 
in  the  words  ; “The  fields  are  white  already  to  harvest.”  This  illustra- 
tion is  a favorite  one  with  our  Saviour.*  Its  propriety  is  evidently  in  this 
fact ; that  when  the  pale  yellow  of  maturity  colours  the  fields  of  wheat,  the 
precious  grain  must  be  gathered  at  once  ; or  else  it  will  fall  to  the  ground 
and  perish.  The  harvest  labour  of  the  husbandman  is  peculiarly  one 
which  admits  no  delay.  When  the  golden  crop  beckons  him  with  its  nod- 
ding plumes,  he  must  bestir  himself,  disregardful  of  scorching  heat  and 
panting  fatigue : next  month  it  will  be  too  late ; for  mildew  and  rot  will 
have  reaped  his  fields  before  him.  So,  the  labour  of  the  spiritual  husband- 
man is  also  harvest-toil.  The  harvest  of  souls  awaits  no  man’s  sluggishness 
— Death  is  a field  with  his  flashing  scythe  mowing  down  the  nations,  and 
gathering  his  sheaves  for  hell  fire  ; so  that  the  work  of  redeeming  love  for 
them  must  be  done  at  once,  or  never.  In  this  is  the  point  of  our  Saviour’s 
reasoning.  This  is  obviously  true  of  each  generation  of  sinners,  as  to  its 
own  generation  of  Christian  labourers;  on  the  supposition  that  the  whole 
world  is  indeed  subject  to  condemnation.  Our  Saviour  evidently  extends 
the  application  of  the  fact  to  all  his  servants  in  the  harvest,  as  well  as  to 
himself.  But  I am  persuaded  that  his  words  include  a meaning  more 
extensive  and  profound.  Not  only  is  the  short  lifetime  of  each  genera- 
tion the  harvest  time  of  its  souls : some  eras  of  the  world  are  harvest- 
seasons  as  to  many  preceding  and  subsequent  generations.  There  is  then 
a conjunction  of  rare  influences  and  circumstances,  rendering  evangelical 
labours  practicable  and  successful,  so  that  a hundred  fold  as  much  may 
be  done,  as  afterward,  when  that  conjunction  is  dissolved.  Such  a season 
the  sacred  Scriptures  clearly  describe  the  era  of  Christ  and  his  apostles 
to  have  been — Then  “ the  fullness  of  time  had  come,”f  chosen  by  God  to 
bring  his  first  begotten  into  the  world.  Then  was  fulfilled  the  gracious 
and  golden  hour,  foreseen  by  Isaiah,:}:  for  Christ  to  call  to  the  isles  and  the 
people  from  afar,  “ in  an  acceptable  time,  and  in  a day  of  salvation.”  So 
deemed  Paul,  when  he  said,§  to  the  men  of  his  age  : “ Behold,  now  is  the 
accepted  time : behold  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.” 

If  this  apprehension  is  correct,  the  text  will  be  found  to  carry  for  us 
a twofold  meaning.  The  first  of  the  two  important  truths  which  it  teaches 

* Matt,  ix,  37,  38.  Mark  iv.  20.  Luke  x.  12. 

f Gal.  iv.  4.  J Isaiah  xlix.  8.  ? 2 Cor.  vi.  2. 


reap;  or  it  perishes. 


is  this  : that  the  souls  of  this  generation  of  mankind  will  quickly  perish, 
unless  they  be  saved  by  the  gospel  efforts  of  Christ’s  church.  You  will 
perceive,  my  brethren,  that  we  are  confronted  here,  with  that  solemn 
question,  on  which  professed  followers  of  Christ  are  by  no  means  agreed: 
Whether  the  souls  of  the  heathen  will  certainly  perish  without  the  gospel. 
Let  us  look  briefly  for  the  answer  the  sacred  Scripture  gives  it.  For  if 
the  present  ignorance  of  the  heathen  exempts  them  from  the  curse  of  a 
broken  law  and  a fallen  nature,  while  their  instruction  in  revealed  truth 
would  subject  them  to  it,  like  ourselves ; and  if  we  may  anticipate  the 
probable  success  of  that  instruction  in  turning  them  to  Christ,  by  the 
obduracy  of  sinners  at  home  ; then  the  result  of  our  misplaced  zeal  may 
mainly  be  to  scatter  broadcast  the  gratuitous  seeds  of  an  aggravated  dam- 
nation. It  were  better  to  centre  all  our  energies  on  the  rescue  of  sinners 
at  home,  who  have  certainly  made  themselves  subject  to  the  curse,  by 
their  neglect  of  Christian  light.  But  if  the  heathen  are  also  destined  to 
perish  inevitably  unless  the  church  thrusts  forth  its  labourers  into  the 
harvest;  then  here  is  the  great,  the  dreadful  motive,  next  to  God’s  glory, 
which  should  strain  every  nerve  of  every  redeemed  soul,  to  rescue  all 
he  can. 

I.  It  has  been  urged  that  a just  God  cannot  punish  the  breach  of  a law, 
or  neglect  of  a gospel,  which  the  heathen  could  not  know.  I answer : 
He  will  punish  no  one  unjustly.  But  hath  He  left  himself  without  wit- 
ness among  them  ?*  “ The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God ; and  the 

firmament  sheweth  his  handiwork.”  Idolatry  and  its  crimes  are  not  all 
sins  of  ignorance. f “ For  the  invisible  things  of  God  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  godhead ; so  that  they  are  without 
excuse.”  They  who  have  no  Bible  may  still  look  up  to  the  moon  walk- 
ing in  brightness  and  the  stars  watching  in  obedient  order:  they  may  see 
iu  the  joyous  sunbeams  the  smile  of  the  Universal  Father,  and  in  the 
fruitful  shower  the  droppings  of  his  bounty ; they  hear  the  rending  thun- 
der utter  his  wrath,  and  the  matin  jubilee  of  the  birds  sing  his  praise  ; 
the  green  hills  are  swelled  with  His  goodness ; the  trees  of  the  wood 
rejoice  before  Him  with  every  quiver  of  their  foliage  in  the  summer  air; 
and  the  floods  clap  their  hands  in  praise,  as  their  multitudinous  waves 
leap  up  flashing  the  laughing  sunlight  from  their  crests.  Are  they  then, 
without  blame,  who  turn  aside  from  all  this,  to  worship  abominations  ? 
Nature,  by  her  universal  anthem,  says,  No ; % “because  that  when  they 
knew  God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God.” 

* Ps.  xix.  f Kom.  i.  20. 


J Rom.  i 21. 


6 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST:  — 


Or  shall  we  suppose  that,  while  every  nominal  Christian  sometimes 
disobeys  his  own  conscience,  heathens  are  so  much  purer,  that  they  never 
do  ? To  many  moral  distinctions  they  may  be  blind  ; but  among  them, 
as  everywhere  else  among  our  fallen  race,  men’s  light  is  better  than  their 
walk.  When  the  pagans  bow  down  to  vile  stocks,  or  defile  themselves 
with  universal  fraud  and  lies,  infanticide,  murder  of  parents,  and  all 
abominations,  shall  we  be  told  that  natural  conscience  utters  no  protest  ? 
Be  it  as  besotted  as  it  may,  it  cannot  wholly  tolerate  these  things.  It 
were  a libel  on  Him  who  made  man  in  his  own  image,  to  say  that  even 
heathen  idolatries  and  crimes  could  so  crush  out  the  moral  sense,  the 
noblest  trait  of  His  handiwork  in  us.  No;  there  is  not  a rational  heathen 
in  the  world  who,  however  blind  his  conscience,  does  not  sometimes  vio- 
late that  conscience.  There,  at  least,  is  sin  : there  is  ground  for  the 
righteous  judgment  of  God  against  him.*  “ For  as  many  as  have  sinned 
without  law,  shall  also  perish  without  law.  Nor  need  we  tarry  long  for 
that  other  objection  : That  a merciful  God  will  surely  smile  upon  that 
man  who  sincerely  desires  to  do  his  duty ; and  who  lives  honestly  up  to 
the  best  creed  which  it  was  possible  for  him  to  know,  erroneous  though 
that  creed  be.  The  short  answer  is,  that  among  Adam’s  sons,  there  is 
no  such  man.f  “ For  we  have  before  proved  both  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
that  they  are  all  under  sin.”  Every  man  comes  short  of  his  own  creed, 
whatever  it  may  be. 

These  objections  lie  too  near  the  surfuce  of  the  question  to  detain  us 
long.  We  are  compelled  to  admit  the  sorrowful  truth  by  reasons  far 
more  profound  ; and  one  of  these  is  suggested  by  the  pleas  which  have 
just  been  set  aside.  It  is  this : 1.  That  while  all  are  guilty,  no  pagan,  no 
infidel  scheme  provides  an  adequate  atonement.  The  necessity  of  this 
full  atonement  for  pardoned  sin  is  declared  by  every  attribute  of  God,  by 
every  interest  of  his  universal  government,  and  by  all  the  teachings  of 
his  word  and  works.  Do  not  these  attributes  and  principles  direct  his 
government  of  pagans,  as  well  as  of  nominal  Christians?  Is  not  God 
everywhere  the  same?  He  “ will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
deeds,  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Gentile  : for  there  is  no  respect 
of  persons  with  God.”:j:  Yea,  the  heathen  conscience  has  itself  written 

this  necessity  for  atonement  all  over  their  superstitions,  in  horrid  charac- 
ters of  torment  and  blood.  Their  ablutions,  their  penances  and  self-tor- 
tures, their  costly  and  ceaseless  oblations,  the  sweat  and  dust  of  their  pil- 
grimages, the  abhorrent  offerings  of  the  fruit  of  the  body  for  the  sin  of 
the  soul,  confess  at  once  a sense  of  guilt,  and  a conscious  need  of  satisfac- 
* Rom.  ii.  12.  f Rom.  iii.  9.  J Rom.  ii.  6, 10, 11. 


reap;  or  it  perishes. 


7 


lion  for  it.  And  in  the  more  refined  creeds  of  Islam  and  Deism,  we  read 
the  same  confession,  in  their  proposal  to  compensate  for  their  guilt  by 
alms,  good  works,  reformations,  or  repentings. 

But  all  these  atonements  are  inadequate  :*  “ for  it  is  not  possible  that 
the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins.”  Least  of  all 
would  those  speculative  persons,  with  whom  Bible  assertions  are  of  little 
weight,  admit  that  these  spurious  virtues  or  senseless  abominations  can 
atone  for  guilt,  they  only  add  to  it.  The  only  atonement  is  that  which 
God  has  provided  for  us  in  the  sufferings  of  his  divine  Son.  And  the 
only  way  by  which  any  one  can  share  this  atonement  is  the  exercise  of 
evangelical  faith.  Our  argument  then,  is  this  : that  all  pagans  are  self- 
convicted  of  some  sins,  at  least  against  the  light  of  nature  ; no  sin  can 
be  pardoned  without  atonement : but  the  gospel  is  the  only  proposal  of 
atonement  to  man. 

2.  Paganism  is  also  fatally  defective  with  regard  to  the  other  great 
want  of  the  human  soul,  moral  renovation.  Here  we  take  our  stand 
upon  the  great  doctrine  of  our  confession  :f  that  all  the  race  are  “ dead 
in  sin,  and  wholly  defiled  in  all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  soul  and  body.” 
However  men  may  differ  in  degrees  of  wickedness,  the  best,  equally  with 
the  worst,  are  wholly  prone  to  worldliness  instead  of  spirituality ; and 
the  hearts  of  all  are  fully  set  in  them  to  disobey  some  of  God’s  known 
commands.  The  natural  will  of  every  man  dislikes  and  rejects  the  holi- 
ness, the  communion,  and  the  service  of  God ; and  this  by  the  perpetual 
and  certain  force  of  those  innate  dispositions  which  determine  rational 
volitions.  No  power  but  one  from  without  and  above  can  renew  that 
will ; because  all  within  it  is  of  course  determined  by  those  controlling 
dispositions.  I shall  not  affront  you  by  supposing  it  necessary  to  offer 
proof  of  these  statements.  Such  is  the  inheritance  which  our  own  eyes 
see  all  in  Christian  lands  deriving  from  their  first  father.  But  we  have 
the  testimony  of  God,  that  all  the  heathens  bear  to  Adam  the  same  rela- 
tion. “ He  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on 
the  face  of  the  earth. And  if  our  smaller  vices  mournfully  substantiate 
this  view  of  man’s  moral  state  here,  how  much  more  may  we  assert  it 
of  the  heathen,  from  the  general  and  loathsome  corruption  of  their  lives  ? 

Now,  “ except  a man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God.”§  Here  is  a prohibition,  not  pronounced  only  by  the  divine  jus- 
tice, but  made  inexorable  by  a natural  necessitjn  The  carnal  mind  can- 
not enjoy  a holy  and  spiritual  heaven  ; but  this  is  the  only  state  of  real 
and  everlasting  welfare  which  a holy  God  can  appoint  for  moral  beings. 

* Heb.  x.  4.  f Conf.  chap.  vi.  sec.  2,  3.  J Acts  xvii.  26.  § John  iii.  3. 


8 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


To  be  unholy  is  to  be  unhappy.  Were  the  justice  of  God  dethroned, 
and  the  very  throne  of  judgment  demolished,  were  all  his  holy  attributes 
repudiated,  and  all  the  interests  of  his  kingdom  disregarded,  still  the 
truth,  “ ye  must  be  born  again,”  would  remain  a flaming  sword,  turning 
every  way  to  keep  the  path  to  paradise.  But  no  pagan  creed  provides 
means  or  agency  for  the  new  birth.  The  very  conception  is  strange  to 
them.  Their  languages  lack  the  very  terms  for  expressing  the  holiness 
which  it  produces.  So  far  are  their  theologies  from  any  sanctifying  influ- 
ence, their  morals  are  immoral,  the  deities  which  they  invite  man  to 
adore  and  imitate  are  often  impersonations  of  monstrous  crime,  and  the 
heaven  which  is  to  reward  their  zeal  is  a pandemonium  of  wickedness 
triumphant  and  immortalized. 

Where  now  are  the  claims  of  those  virtuous  heathens,  a Confucius,  a 
Numa,  an  Aristides,  who  are  supposed  to  have  walked  uprightly  accord- 
ing to  that  scanty  light  of  nature  vouchsafed  by  Providence  ? We  might 
waive  the  considerations  that  every  earthly  child  of  Man  is  condemned 
by  his  own  standard,  and  that  justice  must  be  satisfied  for  these  short- 
comings. Where  is  the  upright  heathen  who  has  shown  true  spirituality 
of  heart ; whose  gratitude  and  love  towards  a holy  God,  whose  hunger- 
ings  for  sanctification,  whose  delight  in  communion  with  heaven,  have 
proved  him  “ meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light  ” ? Ilave  trav- 
ellers or  missionaries  found  such  hearts,  formed  under  the  tutelage  of 
paganism?  Now  if  we  decide  (as  we  must),  that  the  most  magnanimous 
gentleman  in  this  Christian  land,  the  most  amiable  wife,  mother,  or  sister, 
whose  understanding  approves  the  Bible,  and  whose  social  life  is  regulated 
by  higher  ethicks  than  ever  Aristides  dreamed,  that  he  also  must  be  new 
created  unto  holiness,  before  he  can  see  God ; it  is  simple  absurdity  to 
talk  of  heathen  men  admitted  to  heaven  for  the  uprightness  of  their 
intentions.  But  let  us  speak  of  the  common  grade  of  pagans ; of  those 
whose  whole  life  was  brutal  vice,  whose  hearts  were  all  uncleanness, 
whose  very  worship  was  a carnival  of  lasciviousness  and  blood.  What 
would  that  heaven  be  to  them,  which  we  awfully  recognize  as  too  pure 
to  admit  the  most  ingenuous  of  our  sons,  the  loveliest  of  our  daughters, 
whose  social  graces  are  the  perfume  of  our  homes  and  hearts,  while  they 
are  unregenerate  ? Let  us  suppose  that  the  whole  sentence  of  God 
against  the  gentiles  were : “lie  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still ; 
and  he  which  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still.”*  Then  look  at  that  earthly 
hell  of  destitution,  domestic  tyranny,  public  barbarity,  revenge,  and 
unbridled  passion,  which  heathen  society  often  makes  in  this  life;  and 

* Rev.  xxii.  11. 


\ 

\ 


reap;  or  it  perishes.  9 

judge  what  these  elements  will  evolve,  when  let  loose  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  without  social  restraints  or  the  illusions  of  hope,  and  deprived 
of  those  animal  enjoyments  which  now  form  their  chief  happiness.  In 
fine,  the  heathen,  like  us,  are  depraved  ; they  need  a new  birth.  There- 
fore they  cannot  be  saved  without  the  gospel,  which  is  the  only  instru- 
ment of  regeneration. 

We  know  there  are  Christians  who  reject  this  conclusion,  thinking 
God  cannot  justly  condemn  any  man  who  is  not  endowed  with  all  such 
means  and  ability  for  knowing  and  loving  him,  as  put  his  destiny  in  every 
sense  within  his  own  choice.  These  means  the  heathen  do  not  fully  pos- 
sess where  their  ignorance  is  invincible.  The  principle  asserted  is,  that 
God  cannot  justly  hold  any  one  responsible  who  is  not  blessed  with  both 
natural  and  moral  ability.  I answer,  that  our  doctrine  concerning  the 
heathen  places  them  in  precisely  equal  condition  with  those  unhappy 
men  in  Christian  lands,  who  have  the  outward  word,  but  experience  no 
effectual  calling  of  the  Spirit.  God  requires  of  the  latter  to  obey  that  law 
and  gospel  of  which  they  enjoy  the  clearer  lights  ; and  the  obstacle  which 
ensures  their  failure  to  compl3T,  not  indeed  with  any  physical  constraint, 
but  with  a moral  certainty,  is  a depraved  heart  which  is  unwilling  to 
submit.  Of  the  heathen,  God  would  require  no  more  than  full  obedi- 
ence to  that  limited  light  of  nature  which  his  providence  has  granted 
them ; and  the  obstacle  which  ensures  their  failure  also  is  the  same — a 
depraved  will.  When  God  holds  the  heathen  responsible  for  their  light 
therefore,  he  deals  with  them  no  more  unfairly  than  with  the  finally  im- 
penitent under  the  gospel. 

This  is  too  obvious  to  be  denied;  and  hence  it  has  been  found  neces- 
sary,  in  order  to  maintain  the  moral  ability  of  sinners,  to  assert  that  every 
human  being,  Christian  and  pagan,  enjoys  a common  sufficient  grace, 
consisting  of  various  influences  alluring  him  to  the  right,  which  restores 
the  depraved  will  to  its  equilibrium.  And  it  is  said,  where  any  heart 
yields  to  this  common  grace,  God’s  mercy  and  fidelity  stand  pledged  to 
second  those  movements  of  the  yielding  soul,  and  bestow  all  the  helps 
necessary  to  redemption.  And  if  a poor  pagan,  guided  by  this  universal 
light,  begins  to  feel  after  God  if  haply  he  may  find  him,  surely  the  Father 
of  Mercies  will  not  leave  unrewarded  the  strivings  which  his  own  grace 
has  awakened;  but  will  find  some  way  to  give  saving  knowledge  and 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  fatal  answer  is,  that  the  Scriptures,  properly  understood,  are  silent 
concerning  such  universal  sufficient  grace.  Our  experience  contradicts 

i 


10 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


it ; for  we  usually  see  the  actual  operations  of  God’s  grace  far  less  exten- 
sive than  the  means.  IIow  then  can  it  be  plausibly  said  that,  in  other 
cases,  the  grace  is  extended  so  far  beyond  its  outward  means  ? So  for  is 
God  from  extending  a universal  gracious  influence  sufficient  to  restore 
equilibrium  to  a perverted  will ; Paul  tells  us  that  “ whom  he  will  he 
hardeneth.” * And  of  the  pagans,  especially,  it  is  said;  “Even  as  they 
did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to  a 
reprobate  mind.”  f Once  more : if  this  grace  is  sufficient,  why  does  it 
not  bring  all  alike  to  God  ? If  it  is  successful  in  some  cases  only  because 
He  adds  something  to  its  influences,  then,  in  the  other  cases,  it  was  not 
sufficient  grace.  If  he  added  nothing,  then  the  different  result  would 
show  that  the  common  grace  found  in  those  cases  less  perversity  of  heart 
to  overcome.  All  men  would  not  be  in  the  same  spiritual  condition  to- 
wards God : as  the  Bible  most  distinctly  asserts  they  are.  “ They  are  all 
gone  out  of  the  way  ; they  are  together  become  unprofitable.”  % “ Who 

maketh  thee  to  differ  from  another ; and  what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst 
not  receive?  ” § 

We  find  then  that  the  foundation-truths  of  redemption  forbid  us  to 
hope  for  the  escape  of  the  heathen  — we  can  only  indulge  the  thought  at 
the  expense  of  those  prime  axioms  on  which  our  whole  theology  and  our 
own  salvation  depends ; while  the  customary  palliations  of  their  danger 
do  but  touch  the  surface  of  the  terrible  case.  Every  child  of  Adam, 
Christian  or  pagan,  must  have  justifying  righteousness;  and  he  must 
have  a new  heart.  We  know  not  that  adult  and  rational  men  can  obtain 
these  gifts,  save  by  the  intelligent  reception  of  the  Gospel : I say  not  the 
reception  of  the  full  details  of  the  New  Testament,  but  of  that  rudimental 
gospel  and  those  great  primal  conceptions  of  God,  holiness,  sin,  gratui- 
tous justification,  and  sanctification,  embraced  by  a living  faith  and  hope, 
which  pervade  the  patriarchal  as  well  as  the  evangelical  revelations. 
“ Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other ; for  there  is  none  other  name 
under  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.”  || 

But  admitting  all  this,  may  we  not  still  hope  that  there  are  elect  Gen 
tiles,  objects  of  God’s  sovereign  and  omnipotent  grace,  and  that  they 
receive  from  Him  those  gospel  rudiments  in  some  way  extraordinary  and 
unknown  to  the  Church?  Would  God  that  we  had  abundant  grounds 
to  hope  this;  but  alas,  experience  and  revelation,  while  they  may  not 
absolutely  denounce  its  possibility,  command  us  to  act  just  as  though  all 

* Itora.  ix.  18.  f Rom.  i.  28.  See  also,  2Thess.  ii.  10 — 12. 

J Rom.  iii.  12.  g 1 Cor.  iv.  7.  ||  Acts  iv.  12. 


REAP;  OR  IT  PERISHES. 


11 


depended  upon  the  agency  of  the  Church.  Have  our  missionaries  found 
among  the  heathen  hitherto  untaught  of  man,  the  fruits  of  such  divine 
teachings?  Have  they  told  us  of  men,  who,  while  they  may  not  have 
learned  to  worship  Jehovah  by  the  names  we  use,  yet  know  and  love  a 
Being  of  true  godhead  and  holiness ; who  hate  sin,  trust  in  free  grace, 
strive  after  righteousness  and  triumph  over  death  by  hope?  We  fear 
the  instances  are  few  and  doubtful ; if  there  are  cases  which  relieve  the 
common  picture  of  selfishness,  fraud  and  lust,  they  are  but  instances  of 
worldly  uprightness.  The  heathens,  like  the  unredeemed  of  our  own 
land,  are  found  to  live  in  bondage  to  evil  desires  and  a guilty  conscience, 
and  to  die  in  superstitious  delusion,  or  beastly  apathy,  or  despair. 

And  while  God  has  not  said  that  he  sends  his  saving  truth  as  the 
medium  of  his  saving  grace  by  no  hand  but  that  of  Christian  effort,  every 
example  and  precept  of  the  Scriptures  bid  us  act  as  though  this  were  true. 
The  Great  Commission  is,  “Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature,”*  as  though  every  human  being  under  heaven  were 
dependent  on  this  loving  ministry  of  the  church.  The  inspired  preach- 
ers by  their  consuming  zeal  in  the  missionary  work,  implied  the  same 
truth.  Why  did  Paul,  for  instance,  submit  to  dangers  of  deaths  oft ; f to 
receive  of  the  Jews  forty  stripes  save  one,  five  times  ; to  be  beaten  thrice 
with  rods ; to  be  stoned ; to  spend  a night  and  a day  in  the  deep ; to  endure 
varied  perils,  weariness,  watchings,  hunger  and  thirst,  cold  and  nakedness? 
Like  his  Divine  Master,  he  believed  that  a harvest  of  precious  souls  was 
perishing  for  lack  of  Christian  reapers.  And  when  the  charge  of  insanity 
was  provoked  by  his  gigantic  labours,  from  men  too  dead  in  unbelief  to 
comprehend  him,  his  simple  solution  was,  “The  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
eth  us;  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  One  died  for  all,  then  were  all 
dead.”  % And  in  one  word,  God  gives  us  the  rule  of  our  hopes  and 
duties  as  the  unevangelized  world,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  “ There 
is  no  difference  between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek : for  the  same  Lord  over 
all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him.  For  whosoever  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How  then  shall  they  call  on  him 
in  whom  they  have  not  believed  ? and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard  ? and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a preacher? 
And  how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ? ” § 

We  conclude  then,  that  the  church  should  feel  and  act  towards  the 
human  race  substantially  as  though  all  without  the  gospel  were  perishing 
forever.  Do  any  murmur  at  our  earnest,  yea,  vehement  zeal,  to  drive 
the  dread  conviction  home  upon  you  ? I answer ; it  is  not  because  we 

* Mark  xvi.  15.  f 2 Cor.  xi.  23—27.  } 2 Cor.  v.  14.  § Rom.  x.  12—15. 


f 


12 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


are  glad  to  have  it  so;  but  because  we  sadly  know  it  is  so.  "We  think 
our  true  compassion  is  to  face  the  dire  reality,  and  thus  rouse  ourselves 
and  you  to  that  burning  activity  which  alone  can  mitigate  it.  That  is 
but  a false  and  puling  tenderness,  which  professes  not  to  see  it,  in  order 
that  its  indolence  may  evade  the  toils  of  the  rescue.  Should  I discover 
one  of  these  dwellings  burning  over  its  sleeping  inmates,  while  you,  their 
neighbors,  were  skeptical  of  their  danger,  my  cry  of  fire  would  be  no  ar- 
gument of  my  delight  in  the  catastrophe,  but  of  my  zeal  to  arrest  it.  And 
now  that  I see  a world  threatened  by  the  devouring  fire  of  hell,  while 
the  church  slumbers  that  ought  to  stay  the  destruction,  must  I not  lift  up 
my  voice  like  a trumpet?  Oh,  if  we  could  but  relieve  the  danger  of  the 
heathen  by  arguing  that  it  was  slight,  how  joyfully  would  we  plead  the 
glowing  theme  ? 

But  this  cannot  be.  Here  then  is  the  vast  yet  simple  case ; at  least 
four  fifths  of  the  thousand  millions  of  our  race  are  without  the  Bible ; and 
must  therefore  sink  into  hell  as  fast  as  death  can  mow  them  down.  In- 
about  one  third  of  a century,  the  generation  of  our  cotemporaries  will  be 
forever  beyond  the  reach  of  our  love.  We  seem  often  to  imagine  that 
India,  that  China,  that  Africa,  will  still  remain  a century  hence,  awaiting 
our  tardy  zeal ; but  it  is  a terrible  delusion.  Unless  we  bestir  ourselves 
now,  the  India,  the  China  of  to-day  will  be  gone ; and  another  India, 
another  China,  inheritors  of  their  crimes  and  miseries,  will  be  there,  to 
wait  a little  time  upon  the  succour  of  another  Christian  generation,  and 
then,  unless  our  successors  be  more  prompt  than  we  have  been,  to 
plunge  into  perdition  in  their  turn. 

Now,  have  we  thought  what  a plunge  this  is?  Have  we  followed  with 
our  minds  the  ruin  of  one  poorest,  darkest,  weakest  pagan  soul,  through 
its  progressive  depravity  and  despair,  through  its  increasing  capacities 
for  sinning  and  suffering,  and  through  the  never  ending,  ever  widening 
vistas  of  its  immortality,  till  the  woe  is  vaster  than  the  wreck  of  a world  ? 
And  do  we  remember  how  frequently  this  ruin  occurs  ? Every  blast  of 
war,  or  pestilence,  or  famine,  which  shakes  the  human  crop,  strews  hell 
with  precious  seed  of  lost  souls,  as  thickly  as  when  the  November  wind 
sweeps  the  sere  leaves  of  some  trackless  wood  into  its  silent  lake.  If  the 
deaths  of  this  generation  of  sinners  were  perfectly  regular  in  series,  it 
would  furnish  well  nigh  sixty  for  every  minute ; so  that  while  we  sit 
here  deliberating  in  cold  debate,  somewhere  in  this  field  of  death,  every 
second  of  time  marks  the  dying  gasp  of  a human  being!  Hark  to  the 
fatal  beat!  Each  stroke  of  the  pendulum  tolls  the  knell  of  another  soul 


REAP  ; OR  IT  PERISHES. 


13 


that  drops ; each  stroke  is  another  plunge  into  the  pit,  and  a new  burst 
of  another  everlasting  wail  joining  the  many-voiced  threnody  of  despair. 
Oh  terrible  world,  in  which  to  live ; oh  dread  responsibility  of  this  living, 
harvest;  in  the  reaping  of  which  we  must  race  with  death  ! How  can 
our  sluggish  feet  overtake  the  swift  angel,  to  snatch  the  prey  from  his 
grasp  ; when  the  baleful  shade  of  his  wings  is  seen  flitting  over  isle  and 
continent,  even  as  the  gathering  gloom  of  night  would  appear  to  some 
watcher  from  the  skies,  to  sweep  around  the  revolving  globe  ? Should 
we  not  shrink  in  shuddering  horror  from  the  tremendous  competition, 
till  we  recur  to  our  Divine  Master,  to  infuse  us  with  his  strength,  and  to 
wash  out  the  sin  of  our  sluggishness  with  his  blood  ? Yet  let  us  not  be 
cast  down ; we  remember  that  so  swiftly  as  the  dark  edge  of  night  de- 
vours the  surface  of  our  world  from  sight,  even  so  swiftly  does  the 
advancing  flush  of  day  revolve  behind  it,  and  reconquer  it  to  light  and 
joy.  Thus  will  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  follow  and  outrun 
the  shadows  of  death,  until  they  darken  the  earth  no  more. 

II.  There  are  eras  in  the  world’s  progress,  which,  compare  with  other 
ages  as  harvest  seasons  for  Christ : and  such  an  era  our  Saviour  evidently 
considered  his  own  generation  to  be.  I cannot  suppose  that  when  he 
pronounced  “the  fields  white  to  harvest,”  his  all-seeing  eye,  which  de- 
clared “ the  field  is  the  world,”  embraced  only  the  approaching  clusters 
of  Samaritans  summoned  by  the  startled  woman  to  the  well ; or  only  the 
teeming  villages  of  Galilee  and  Judea.  Doubtless  he  meant  to  include 
that  general  preparation  for  the  gospel,  pervading  the  civilized  world  at 
that  day,  which  had  brought  in  “the  fulness  of  time,”  and  “the  accep- 
table year  of  the  Lord.” 

Many  important  elements  concurred  in  this  preparation.  Both  Jews 
and  Gentiles  were  aroused  by  a general  hope  of  a divine  intervention, 
and  the  clear  announcements  by  which  Hebrew  prophets  had  heralded 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  were  repeated  in  the  fainter  echoes  of  eastern 
Magi  and  Latin  poets.  It  was  also  the  Augustan  age  of  mental  activity, 
when  the  languages  of  antiquity  had  received  the  finishing  touch  of  their 
cultivation ; and  human  speculation  had  borne  its  maturest  fruits.  The 
Greek  tongue,  fittest  of  all  for  expressing  moral  distinctions,  and  already, 
in  virtue  of  the  Septuagint  version,  a sacred  language  to  God’s  people, 
was  diffused  throughout  the  civilized  world,  as  the  language  of  polite 
intercourse  and  traffic.  The  Macedonian  arms  had  carried  it  from  Ionia 
to  the  jungles  of  Hindostan  and  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile;  and  even  after 
Greece  herself  fell  before  the  Roman,  the  rough  conqueror,  by  adopting 
his  captive  as  his  tutoress,  had  spread  it  throughout  the  West.  More 


14 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


than  this;  in  “every  nation  under  hfeaven”  were  found  the  Jews  of  the 
dispersion,  nursing  the  great  spiritual  doctrines  and  worship  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  that  most  often  in  the  Greek  scriptures ; so  that  to  what- 
ever place  of  note  in  any  land,  the  evangelist  might  go,  he  found  in  the 
bosom  of  paganism  a place  and  audience,  familiar  with  at  least  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  system.  Yet,  more;  the  civilized  world  was  at  length  at 
peace.  The  empire  of  the  Caesars,  so  vast,  that  it  proudly  styled  itself 
by  a name  synonymous  with  the  habitable  globe,  had  consolidated  the 
nations  under  its  iron  rule,  and  stilled  their  jars  with  a force  too  mighty 
to  be  even  assailed.  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Euphrates,  her  armed 
police  protected  the  freedom  of  travel  and  traffic,  so  that  the  stranger  of 
every  tongue  was  safe  in  every  other  land,  whatever  the  lawful  purpose 
of  his  journey.  The  barriers  of  danger  and  prejudice  which  fenced  peo- 
ple from  people  were  levelled,  and  mankind  were  mingled  in  a fermenting, 
inquiring  mass.  Once  more ; the  pagan  mind  had  outgrown  the  swad- 
dling bands  of  its  mythologies.  Understandings,  sharpened  by  the 
dialectics  of  Athens,  Tarsus,  Alexandria,  rejected  the  puerile  theogonies 
which  impressed  the  awe-struck  fancies  of  their  rude  fathers.  And  while 
human  depravity,  thus  educated,  disdained  the  fears  of  a fabled  Rhada- 
manthus  and  Tartarus,  and  rushed  to  every  excess  of  crime ; thoughtful 
minds  felt  the  instinctive  craving  for  a creed  and  a resting-place,  and 
recoiled  from  the  blank  unbelief  and  chaos  of  moral  corruption,  which 
threatened  to  absorb  every  hope  of  humanity.  The  race  had  now  fully 
wrought  out  the  long  experiment,  whether  “ man  by  his  wisdom  could 
know  God,”  and  stood  aghast  at  its  disastrous  failure  ; when  Christ  pre- 
pared “ by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  to  save  them  that  believed.” 
Such  were  the  features  of  this  harvest  time.  The  apostles  and  their 
fellow-reapers  thrust  forth  into  the  field,  with  the  vigour  inculcated  by 
the  example  and  injunctions  of  their  Master,  to  gather  fruit  unto  life 
eternal.  Divine  wisdom  taught  them  to  comprehend  the  emergency  ; and 
the  result  was,  that  they  carried  the  gospel  in  ffne  century  from  the  Indus 
to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  The  energy  and  speed  of  the  heralds  of  the 
cross  was  not  unworthy  of  the  symbol  by  which  prophecy  impersonated 
them  ; “ an  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting 
gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation, 
and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people.”  * 

These  favourable  circumstances  continued  but  a few  generations.  Let 
us  suppose  that  the  primitive  Christians,  instead  of  toiling  with  the 
urgency  of  harvest  labourers,  had  contented  themselves  with  a few 


* Rev.  xiv.  6. 


reap;  or  it  perishes. 


15 


decent  exertions,  resigning  themselves,  for  the  rest  to  a snug  and  selfish 
religious  epicurism.  After  the  first  generation  came  fiery  and  bloody 
persecutions,  which  seemed  for  a time  almost  to  drown  the  churches  in 
their  own  slaughter  Next  came  the  decay,  the  internal  convulsions,  the 
workl-rcsounding  fall  of  the  Empire,  whose  arts  and  arms  had  all  con- 
curred to  make  a highway  for  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Barbarian  and  pagan 
hordes  ravaged  and  dismembered  the  mighty  fabric.  The  language  of 
the  gospel,  of  science,  of  civilization,  became  a dead  one,  except  to  one 
people,  the  rare  accomplishment  of  the  learned  few,  and  the  curse  of 
Babel  again  separated  nation  from  nation.  Literature  was  banished 
by  the  din  of  wars  and  rapine ; order,  commerce,  travel  were  almost  at 
an  end;  and  at  last  there  remained  only  the  chaotic  sea  of  the  middle 
ages,  strewn  with  the  eddying  wrecks  of  the  ancient  world,  and  tossed 
with  perpetual  storms,  from  which  a new  order  was  slowly  and  painfully 
to  emerge. 

Now,  need  we  state  the  contrast  between  the  probable  success  of  mis- 
sionary effort  in  this  dreary  and  turbulent  winter,  and  in  the  glorious 
summer  of  the  Christian  era  ? True,  it  was  still  the  duty  of  the  Church 
to  endeavour  to  obey  the  perpetual  injunction,  regardless  of  gigantic  ob- 
stacles ; for  with  her  almighty  Head  all  things  are  possible.  True,  it  was 
still  her  privilege  to  hope  that  faithful  toil  would  not  be  wholly  fruitless, 
even  in  the  most  untoward  seasons.  But  still,  Christ  does  not  wholly  ab- 
rogate the  force  of  natural  causes  in  his  providence  over  his  kingdom.  It 
was  also  true  that  the  Church  was  now  bereft,  not  only  of  her  golden 
opportunity,  but  also  of  her  gifts,  (miracles,  tongues,  prophecy,)  and  of 
much  of  her  primitive  purity.  But  the  possession  of  these,  as  well  as  of 
the  opportunity  to  employ  them  fortunately,  was  among  the  things  whose 
concurrence  made  the  harvest  season ; and  their  lack  will  account  only 
in  part  for  the  failures  of  the  Church.  She  was  not  forgetful  of  the  work 
of  missions  in  the  dark  ages ; but  how  scanty  and  difficult  were  the  con- 
quests ! The  first  century  sufficed  for  her  to  run  the  circuit  of  that  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  around  which  were  then  grouped  the  civilized  races  of 
man ; but  now  she  consumed  four  hundred  years  in  creeping  doubtfully 
from  the  Bhine  to  the  Vistula;  and  in  most  of  the  new  ground  which  she 
essayed  to  tread,  her  footprints  were  obliterated  as  she  passed,  as  though 
they  had  been  made  in  the  shifting  sands. 

Consider  next,  how  long  this  impassive  reign  of  darkness  continued. 
Only  in  the  fourteenth  century  did  the  twilight  begin  slowly  and  dimly  to 
emerge,  which  at  length  in  the  sixteenth  broke  into  the  new  dayspring  of 
the  Reformation.  From  that  day  to  this  there  has  been  a steady  progress 


16 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: — 


in  the  rearrangement  of  all  the  influences  which  can  facilitate  the  world’s 
redemption;  “And  now  behold,  lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields, 
for  they  are  white  again  to  harvest.”  Never  since  the  era  when  Christ 
sent  forth  apostles  and  evangelists  into  the  whitened  crop,  has  the  world 
seen  a second  season  so  propitious  as  our  age  for  the  ingathering  of  the 
people  to  him.  Let  us  see  how  many  of  the  elements  of  favourable  pre- 
paration have  been  reproduced. 

One  of  these  was  the  mental  activity  of  the  Augustan  age.  But  ever 
since  the  triumphant  insurrection  of  the  human  mind  against  Popery, 
thought  has  been  increasingly  free  and  active,  until  this  age  claims  it  as 
its  peculiar  glory.  The  whole  realm  of  science  known  to  the  ancients  has 
been  reoccupied,  and  other  domains  have  been  added,  as  unknown  to 
them  and  as  magnificent  by  comparison  with  theirs,  as  the  new  world 
which  Columbus  opened  to  our  industry.  Everywhere  the  human  mind 
ferments,  inquires,  and  discusses.  The  printing  press,  though  four  hun- 
dred years  old,  still  developes  new  magic  in  its  powers : an  agency  for 
which  Paul  would  probably  have  gladly  exchanged  his  gift  of  tongues. 
We  even  see  the  strange  fact  that  Papists  and  Brahmins  eagerly  employ 
this  engine  of  light,  and  with  judicial  blindness  accustom  their  people  to 
its  use,  only  to  destroy  their  own  empire  of  darkness. 

Second ; no  universal  monarchy  now  dominates  over  the  world,  com- 
pelling the  nations  to  a temporary  and  enforced  brotherhood.  But  in  its 
room  we  have  the  benignant  sway  of  imperial  Peace,  with  her  handmaid 
Commerce,  more  potent  over  human  passions  by  the  blessings  she  confers, 
than  was  ever  Assyrian  or  Median,  Greek  or  Roman  conqueror,  by  the 
devastations  which  he  threatened.  For  even  where  the  short  and  partial 
wars  of  our  day  prevail,  Christianity  has  so  narrowed  their  operation  to 
actual  combatants,  and  legislated  for  their  atrocity,  that  the  peaceful  la- 
bours of  traffic,  letters,  and  religion  are  scarcely  suspended  in  their  pres- 
ence. And  under  the  wings  of  this  peace  and  commerce,  the  Christian 
may  go  to  more  peoples  and  tongues  than  were  ever  dreamed  of  by  the 
fabulous  geography  of  the  ancients,  with  a safety  as  great  as  was  in- 
voked by  the  proud  challenge,  “ I am  a Roman  citizen ! ” Need  I refer 
to  those  wonders  of  modern  science  by  which  distance  is  abridged,  and 
we  may  almost  say,  with  prophecy,  “ there  is  no  more  sea  ” to  divide  the 
nations  ? 

Third ; in  place  of  the  common  language  of  antiquity,  we  have  now 
the  English,  a tongue  yet  nobler,  and  spoken  in  more  different  tribes,  and 
in  more  of  the  hives  of  men,  than  was  the  Greek  in  the  days  of  Paul. 
And  with  this  language  goes  the  prestige  and  fear  of  the  British  people, 


REAP;  OR  IT  PERISHES. 


17 


protecting  us  almost  equally  with  them.  For  such  is  the  community  of 
tongue,  race,  character,  religion,  and  interests,  between  Britain  and 
America,  that  in  the  pagan  world  men  fortunately  almost  forget  to 
distinguish  between  us.  What  silent  sea  or  ancient  river  is  not  vexed 
by  their  prows,  and  visited  by  their  enterprise  ? In  what  mart  do  not 
their  flags  inspire  fear  and  respect?  So  that — to  omit  their  vast  depend- 
encies, more  ample  than  the  empire  of  Augustus — there  is  scarcely  a 
province  in  the  pagan  world  where  Protestant  power  and  enterprise  have 
not  so  preceded,  that  the  Protestant  teacher  may  enter  securely,  and  per- 
forin his  mission  under  the  shield  of  their  protection.  For  even  China 
and  Japan,  the  last  strongholds  of  exclusive  jealousy,  Avill  doubtless  be- 
fore long  disclose  their  mysteries  before  the  inevitable  forces  of  the  age. 

When  we  turn  to  the  lands  of  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet,  we  see 
there  also  a rapid  relaxation  of  hinderances.  Moslem  fanaticism  burns  but 
feebly  in  our  day,  for  decrepitude  and  dependence  now  compel  those  pow- 
ers, once  so  terrible  to  Christianity,  to  purchase  the  protection  of  the  most 
Protestant  nation  at  the  price  of  a tolerance  of  Christians  which  they  were 
little  wont  to  exercise.  How  wondrously  hath  God  wrought  here!  Even 
Poperv,  enemy  of  the  gospel  more  inexorable  than  Islam,  is  compelled  by 
triumphant  moral  influences  to  relax  its  exclusiveness.  In  Sardinia, 
France,  Belgium,  in  Brazil  and  the  other  states  of  Central  and  Southern 
America,  soon  to  be  seats  of  tefeming  empires,  a partial  liberty  is  yielded  to 
the  gospel.  And  as  though  it  were  not  enough  to  open  every  door  to  us 
abroad,  Providence  has  precipitated  a part  of  the  destitute  into  our  arms 
at  home,  by  directing  the  emigration  of  Popish  Europe  to  our  Atlantic, 
and  of  Pagan  Asia  to  our  Pacific  border. 

While  God  has  thus  prepared  the  field  for  us,  he  has  also  prepared  us 
for  the  field.  In  those  Protestant  nations  to  whom  he  has  virtually  given 
the  empire  of  the  world,  he  has  given  to  his  churches  the  numbers,  the 
wealth,  the  education,  the  moral  influence,  requisite  to  enable  them  to  go 
up  and  occupy  the  ground.  Never  since  the  Christian  era  has  there  been 
a second  concurrence,  such  as  this,  of  everything  which  promotes  the 
facile  and  successful  spread  of  Christianity.  “ The  fields  are  white  to 
harvest.” 

But  now,  let  us  solemnly  remember,  that  a harvest  season  is  from 
its  very  nature  short.  Let  us  review  these  advantages,  not  in  the 
spirit  of  pompous  self-gratulation  too  often  seen,  but  with  a trembling 
sense  of  the  duties  which  they  imply.  For,  be  assured,  this  fortunate 
juncture  cannot  be  permanent.  It  is  too  good  to  last , unless  it  be  improved. 
As  reasonably  might  we  hope  that  two  planets,  which  had  been  wheeling 


18 


THE  WORLD  WHITE  TO  HARVEST: 


their  long  cycles  in  devious  opposition  around  the  remoter  verge  of  Sat- 
urn, when  at  length  they  meet  one  instant  in  our  field  of  view,  would  ar- 
rest their  ceaseless  courses  to  remain  in  conjunction.  It  is  the  attribute 
of  human  affairs  to  revolve.  And  when  this  great  living  wheel  of  Prov- 
idence, which  “is  so  high  that  it  is  dreadful,”*  shall  have  once  more 
turned  away  its  auspicious  segment  from  the  Church,  who  can  tell  how 
many  ages  may  elapse  before  its  stately  revolution  will  restore  it  to  us  ? 
Let  us  take  a probable  warning  from  the  past.  The  harvest  time  enjoyed 
by  the  primitive  Church  was  spent,  and  it  returned  not  again  till  a mighty 
year  had  rolled  around,  of  which  the  months  were  ages,  and  winter  the  ten 
dreary  centuries  of  barbarism  and  the  frosts  of  spiritual  death.  So,  if  we 
waste  this  summer  which  seems  at  length  returning,  after  so  long  a winter, 
so  tedious  a spring,  and  so  many  capricious  frosts  blighting  the  rising 
promise  of  the  Church,  when  will  the  third  harvest  for  the  world  return  ? 
By  what  second  series  of  dark  ages,  by  how  many  national  convulsions 
and  retributive  woes,  may  not  God  chastise  the  Church  for  its  neglect ; and 
then,  by  how  many  throes  of  great,  struggling  souls,  by  what  strifes  and 
toils,  by  what  streams  of  martyr  blood,  may  she  not  be  required  to  earn 
for  mankind  another  season  as  propitious  as  the  one  we  now  waste? 

And  should  this  picture  be  realized  by  the  shortcoming  of  the  Church, 
history  suggests  another  probable  warning,  of  special  significance  to  us  as 
Americans.  It  is  not  likely  that  our  land  will  be  one  of  those  which  will 
be  honoured  to  send  forth  that  third  day-spring  of  gospel  light  to  the  race 
of  man.  When  once  the  soil  of  a country  hath  been  polluted  by  the 
failures  and  apostasies  of  God’s  church,  he  removes  his  special  favours 
from  it,  to  return  no  more  for  long  and  disastrous  ages.  Look  at  those 
lands  on  which  the  Hebrew  and  the  primitive  churches  enjoyed,  and  mis- 
used, and  sinned  away  their  splendid  opportunities:  how  blighted,  how 
benighted,  how  accursed  have  they  lain  ever  since ! God  sought  out 
other  lands,  which  had  lain  in  reserve  in  virgin  wilderness,  untainted  by 
the  Church’s  treason  to  his  cause,  or  else  which  had  undergone  the  lus- 
tration of  centuries  of  chastisement,  in  which  to  relume  the  light  of  the 
gospel.  So,  if  we  waste  this  golden  season,  it  is  probable  that  America 
will  not  be  the  land  to  which  the  Gentiles  will  come  for  the  Church’s 
light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising.  While  this  fair  domain 
will  lie  blasted  by  the  guilt  of  its  inhabitants,  some  new  church  on  some 
soil  now  pagan,  will  enjoy  the  privilege  of  sending  forth  to  a benighted 
world,  and  to  our  degenerate  posterity,  the  dayspring  of  the  millennium. 

And  what,  my  brethren,  is  the  catastrophe  of  a series  of  human  genc- 

* Kzek.  i.  18. 


reap;  or  it  perishes. 


19 


rations,  mainly  lost  through  the  betrayal  of  that  critical  one  on  which 
Providence  thus  partly  stakes  the  fate  of  many  of  its  successors  ? W e 
have  endeavoured  to  grasp  the  evil  implied  in  the  death  of  one  pagan 
soul,  but  found  it  too  great  for  imagination.  We  have  endeavoured  to 
represent  to  ourselves  the  immense  interests  of  the  generation  of  our 
pagan  cotemporaries,  who  are  directly  dependent  on  us  for  their  rescue 
from  perdition,  but  the  mind  staggered  under  the  vastness  and  the 
frightfulness  of  the  thought.  We  must  now  add  this  further  truth: 
that  the  destiny  of  our  critical  age  may  largely  determine  that  of 
many  coming  after  it ; and  then  we  begin  to  see  the  weight  of  our 
responsibilities.  Take  this  great  and  dreadful  fact  home  to  your  medi- 
tations, and  let  it  grow  upon  your  comprehension  in  the  hours  of  silent 
thought  and  of  communion  with  God.  Had  I the  tongues  of  men 
and  of  angels,  it  would  still  be  mere  mockery  for  me  to  seek  words  by 
which  to  exalt  your  conception  of  it ; for  words  cannot  utter  the  unut- 
terable. 

And  now  we  doubtless  all  feel  that  the  discussion  of  such  themes  as 
these  should  have  but  one  conclusion,  the  enforcement  upon  our  own 
hearts  of  the  duty  of  most  intense  exertion  in  this  awful  yet  blessed  work 
of  the  world’s  redemption.  But  who  shall  dare  to  define  and  paint  that 
energy,  or  to  fix  the  standard  of  that  zeal  which  is  commensurate  with 
the  vast  exigency  ? Who,  that  had  not,  like  Isaiah,  received  the  touch 
of  a live  coal  from  off  the  altar  upon  his  bps,  or,  like  Paul,  been  caught 
up  into  paradise  and  heard  unspeakable  words,  would  be  sufficient  for 
the  task  ? Let  me  not  attempt  it.  But  there  is  a picture  of  the  love, 
the  effort,  the  liberality  which  the  occasion  should  inspire ; a picture 
accurate,  and  equal  to  the  case.  It  is  the  living  image  of  the  Saviour’s 
own  example,  when  he  came  as  the  Missionary  of  Heaven.  See,  then,  in 
Him,  and  not  in  the  stammering  words  of  man,  the  application  of  his 
truth.  Let  us  .learn  to  describe  our  labours  for  the  lost  in  his  words  : 
“ My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his 
work.”  * And  when  we  give  of  the  abundance  with  which  God  hath 
blessed  us,  let  us  consider  “ the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that, 
though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  we  through 
his  poverty  might  be  rich.”  f 


* John' iv.' 34. 


f 2 Cor.  viii.  9. 


. 

£ #A 


t 


